Frequently Asked Questions about Tattoo Removal
The team will be able to give you a much clearer time & cost estimate at the free consultation you need to attend before your first laser tattoo removal session can commence.
The approximate area we can treat in 20minute session is 35cm2. Which is about the 2/3's of a persons forearm. 10 minute sessions are for small tattoo's approximately the size of a $10 note or smaller.
Short answer is yes, laser tattoo removal is extremely painful. Even with the latest picosecond laser's it is still very painful. Please don't let deter you from booking in. Here at Laser HRH we have 2 different numbing creams, both are incredibly strong* & if applied correctly reduce the pain to almost nothing. Application instructions for this along with a host of other important information is all discussed at the obligation free consult prior to your first treatment.
*Please allow up to 2hrs for either of these numbing creams to take full effect before treatment.
No two tattoos are the same. Factors such as ink qualities, tattooing equipment, tattoo artists’ techniques, depth of the ink, development of scar tissue during the healing process, where the tattoo is located on your body, ink colours & even the base colour of “black” ink, all need to be considered to form an estimation of how many treatments may be required.
As a general guide, around 3-5 treatments are usually sufficient to fade a tattoo, & around 6-10 for a more complete removal. Your technician will be able to give you an estimate of how many treatments expected for your tattoo to be removed, when you attend for your free initial consultation.
Often we find that when you return after your first session, for the second treatment, it's easier to give a clearer estimation at this time, because we are able to visually see how the ink responds to the initial laser session.
Each time the picosecond laser is fired into your tattoo you will hear a “TAP” sound as the laser’s light is absorbed by the ink in the tattoo & consequently heated. This is called the thermal acoustic effect. Following the treatment, over the coming 6-52weeks the ink is then absorbed by the body through the capillary system in your skin & finally flushed out of the body via the kidneys & then urine.
This is probably the 2nd most common question we get at Laser HRH. The tattoo removal process, works by sending a huge amount of energy into the skin in a very short period of time measured in picoseconds (That’s 10-13 for you math heads, or 0.0000000000001 of a second). This shatters the ink into minuet particles, which is then absorbed back into the blood stream & finally excreted out via your urine. To allow the body to complete this process well enough as well as to allow the skin to heal 100%, a minimum of 5-weeks is required between treatments. Laser HRH recommends 8-10* weeks between treatments.
This ensures the body has had enough time to recover process as much ink as it can, save you money & ensure the least possibilities for complications because fewer treatments are required.
*Even if you only have one treatment, the ink will slowly continue to be absorbed by the blood in your skin & the tattoo will continue to fade for up to 12 months following just 1 session. .
Yes, Rest assured the machines at HRH are picosecond machines. The advantage that our machines have over many of our competitors, is that we can increase & decrease the pulse width of the laser, which is something not many tattoo removal laser's are capable of doing.
We also have the luxury of have several different wavelengths to select from. The standard 532nm & 1064nm which most tattoo removal machines have these days, but we also have the 585nm & 650nm along with a factional handle to help assist with tattoo's that have scaring present in them.
